Looking to extend a six-game win streak, the Ridgefield Raptors begin a six-game road trip this week with matchups in Port Angeles and Bellingham. All three games in Port Angeles (Tuesday through Thursday), begin at 6:35 and will be covered live with an audio stream on the RidgefieldRaptors.com homepage.
The Raptors won two non-league games this weekend to follow four straight wins in West Coast League games. The six-game win streak is the longest active streak in the league. The Raptors swept Port Angeles last week by a combined score of 23-7 and now will rematch with the Lefties up at Civic Field.
Since Ridgefield only played Port Angeles one time in 2019 and it was a home series, Tuesday will be the first game in Raptors team history at Port Angeles. Ridgefield took two out of three games versus Port Angeles in 2019.
The Raptors continue to contend for the team’s first playoff berth in team history. After Corvallis took the first half title and locked up a playoff berth, Ridgefield will have to win the second half title or, if Corvallis wins the second half as well, finish in second place in terms of record from both halves. It’s early in the second half, but Ridgefield is in position to do both: the Raptors lead the second half at 5-1 and are tied for second in overall record at 18-12. The Portland Pickles are also 18-12, and the Raptors have the tiebreaker over the Pickles.
The biggest Ridgefield trend of late has been strong pitching — not that the bats have cooled down, as the Raptors continue to lead the league in runs, hits, doubles, home runs, batting average and slugging percentage. But after having the league’s highest ERA earlier this year, the Raptors have cobbled together two straight weeks of excellent pitching.
In the last 11 games, the Raptors haven’t allowed more than five runs in any game and the starting pitcher has allowed two earned runs or fewer each time. The starting rotation of Jaren Hunter, Nate Weeldreyer, Ryan Harvey, Brock Gillis and Joey Martin has churned out two weeks of strong performances.
Individual performances in the batter’s box have also come early and often for the Raptors. Currently, of the top 10 players in the WCL in batting average, four are Ridgefield players (Coby Morales, John Peck, Will Chambers and Reece Hernandez). The Raptors also have a player leading or tied for first in doubles (Caden Connor, 13), home runs (Will Chambers, 6), RBIs (Caden Connor, 29), on base percentage (Will Chambers, .491) and slugging percentage (Will Chambers, .614).
Following the Port Angeles road trip, Ridgefield will go straight to another three game road trip in Bellingham, where the Raptors will play 6:35 p.m. games on Friday and Saturday before a 1:05 game on Sunday. The next home game is July 27 against the Redmond Dudes.